Post-2025 Conflict Fallout: CASS Webinar Examines Kashmir Dispute and Pakistan’s Strategic Options Islamabad

ISLAMABAD; The Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS), Islamabad, convened a high-level webinar titled “The Kashmir Dispute in the Aftermath of the 2025 Conflict”, examining the humanitarian, political, and strategic consequences of the May 2025 hostilities on the Kashmiri population in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The discussion assessed how India’s post-conflict policies have shaped the lived realities of Kashmiris and explored diplomatic, legal, and political pathways available to Pakistan for strengthening international engagement on the Kashmir dispute in the evolving regional security environment. As an independent think tank, CASS continues to engage national and international scholars and practitioners on national security issues in their broader strategic context.
The session was moderated by Air Marshal (Retd.) Zahid Mehmood, Senior Director at CASS, who underscored that the Kashmir dispute transcends territorial claims and remains fundamentally a political and humanitarian issue. He noted that it is rooted in the unfinished agenda of partition and the unfulfilled right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people, as recognised by the United Nations.
Delivering the keynote address, Dr Asma Shakir Khawaja, Executive Director of the Centre for International Strategic Studies (CISS) AJK, highlighted Kashmir’s centrality to India’s strategic calculus. She cited ideological drivers, strategic considerations vis-à-vis China, control over critical water resources, and the imposition of a majoritarian narrative over the only Muslim-majority region under Indian control as key factors shaping India’s approach.
From Pakistan’s perspective, Dr Khawaja emphasised that the dispute is grounded in the principles of the Radcliffe Award, shared ethnic and religious ties, strategic imperatives, and, above all, the primacy of human rights and human dignity. Critiquing the Modi government’s Kashmir policy, she pointed to a declining appetite for peace, an increasingly aggressive security posture, and prestige-driven narratives projecting India as a “vishwaguru.” She observed that efforts to project normalcy through tourism and sporting events have failed to mask the coercive realities on the ground.
Looking ahead, Dr Khawaja called for moving beyond cosmetic measures to address the core issue of self-determination, humanising the Kashmir conflict, countering ideological extremism, and linking the dispute with contemporary global issues to enhance sustained internationals internationals engagement.
Concluding the session, Air Marshal Javaid Ahmed (Retd.), President of CASS, thanked the keynote speaker for her insightful contributions and reaffirmed Pakistan’s principled commitment to a just, durable, and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and relevant United Nations resolutions.